A/N: Wow, thank you all for the marvelous reviews! Sorry for the delay. The good news is that I've got a pretty good idea of where the story is going and hopefully you'll be as happy with it as I am. :) Please review! And enjoy! XD

As Luck Would Have It

Chapter Fourteen

When Merlin opened his eyes he was in darkness so intense that he wasn't sure if he had indeed opened his eyes or not. He blinked, confirming that his eyes were open, and then sat up. He waited to see if his eyes would adjust to the oppressing blackness but they didn't. The uneasy knot in his chest grew with each second that passed. The last thing he remembered was accepting the dryad's challenge and the fog creeping in from the surrounding forest, binding him, obscuring his vision, pouring into his mouth and choking him. Subconsciously, he brought his hand to his throat as he remembered the suffocating feeling of being taken by the fog. He hadn't been able to move, to breathe… and then he had been overwhelmed by darkness.

A darkness, it seemed, that wasn't going to go away even when he woke up, if he was actually awake. He supposed that this could be a dream but somehow he doubted it. The chilly, damp air was too cold on his skin; the rough, damp rock he was leaning against was too solid, to firm, to be a figment of his imagination. He stood up slowly, carefully, his ankle throbbing and wounds still smarting. He held his arms out in front of him as he tried to feel his way around the area that he was in. He began to panic as his outstretched hands found hard, dripping walls within arm distance on every side. His eyes glowed gold as he tried to make light appear. Nothing happened.

Your magic will only work when the tests have begun. The voice was that of the old lady – the dryad – in the forest. Merlin didn't know if the voice had spoken aloud or if it was just echoing about in his head. In fact, he wasn't entirely sure that he had heard it at all. He was still disoriented from being swept from the middle of the forest with Arthur to this dark, tiny, magic-less hole. He glanced around nervously, but no light or indication of movement of any sort was made known. Swallowing thickly, he managed to respond to the voice that he may or may not have heard.

"Where am I? What are the tests? What's going on? Where's Arthur?"

The woman's voice chuckled eerily around him and the darkness pressed relentlessly around him. This time, when she spoke, he physically heard her voice, confirming that it was real – if, indeed, any of this was actually real – although it still seemed to come from every direction. "Patience is a virtue that the Earth values greatly. You must learn to wield it if you are to pass the tests that lie before you. As for your questions, you are in my fortress. The Earth's fortress. My Mother's home. Your home."

Merlin frowned. He knew this woman's – or rather, this dryad's – type. She was like the Great Dragon, like Amphora the Keeper of the Unicorns, the kind of person who loved speaking in riddles and leaving those in her wake even more more confused than they were before. It was extremely exhausting trying to deal with this type of person – creature, whatever – and Merlin wondered if he should have just been content with the curse on him. After all, he had little patience for cryptic warnings (as the dragon had found out plenty of times) and if patience was going to be a virtue that would be judged… he might not pass anyway.

Almost as if sensing his thoughts – or maybe she truly was; Merlin wouldn't put it past her – the dryad said, "Patience, young one." Merlin rolled his eyes at the patronizing way she spoke to him but didn't respond. "You are in a place that is full of darkness and light, hatred and love, fear and courage. A place of opposites. A place where one extreme must surely overcome another. Because you unleashed the curse upon yourself when you broke my pendant, you must prove which extremes are prevalent over the others. And only then can you hope to prove your worth and break your curse."

Merlin frowned. "And the tests – what will happen if I fail one?"

The withered voice of the old tree spirit grew harsh and ominous and the darkness surrounding him seemed to grow thicker, more deadly, with every word. "Then I am afraid the magic of the curse will consume you. You chose this path, to try and end your curse, and the consequences could be dangerous if you are not pure of heart." Her voice faded away before she spoke on more time. "If you fail these tests, then I'm afraid the ancient magic of the earth will not allow you to leave this place. You will be lost within her grasp, and you will be stranded here… forever."

Arthur had no idea what to do. Merlin had been taken away in the mist and he hadn't seen him since. He had been standing in the same spot for nearly half an hour, pacing around the clearing a bit, waiting, watching for anything, any sign or clue as to where Merlin had been spirited away to or even the sound of his idiotic manservant bumbling through te forest before crashing into the clearing. He knew the latter wasn't likely but still he found his head whipping to meet every crack of a twig or brush of a leaf in the woods surrounding him.

He was worried; there was no point in denying it. He didn't think that there was anything wrong with being concerned about his manservant by this point anyway. For heaven's sake, he had just watched Merlin be cocooned in fog and magicked away to who knows where and he had been left with absolutely nothing. No indication of what kind of tests Merlin might be being forced to take. No idea where he had been taken to or if he was ever coming back. He had no idea if he should stay here and wait for Merlin's return, or how long to wait, nothing.

At least when he had been tested after killing the unicorn to prove his worth, his tests had been immersed in his daily life. He hadn't been taken anywhere special, save for the Labyrinth of Gedref and even then he had been given the option of whether or not he chose to go there. Merlin had been, quite literally, swept away. Sure, he had accepted the challenge but Arthur didn't believe that the servant had had any idea that he'd be "poofed" away when he did so. If he had had some idea of what was to come, then the idiot had a greater lack of self-preservation than his master currently gave him credit for – which wasn't much to begin with.

An irritated growl forming in his throat, Arthur forced himself to decide on a course of action. One thing was certain: if he stayed here and twiddled his thumbs he wouldn't do Merlin any good. He knew what he had to do although he had no idea how to even begin to go about it.

He was going to have to go after Merlin.

The darkness finally melted away.

Merlin was grateful. He didn't like the dark. He wasn't afraid of it, although he had been when he was a child (which was why his exasperated mother would often find a soft, radiant blue light hovering just above his head in the middle of the night as an infant, the product of his instinctive magic), but even so the penetrating blackness that had surrounded him had been unnerving to say the least. And just because he wasn't afraid of the dark didn't mean he liked it. The dark was where nightmares lurked. Where death haunted the shadows and uncertainty did its bidding. Darkness meant loneliness. You could see no one in the dark. They could not see you. This meant that the dark was a barrier that kept people apart. Made them be alone.

And Merlin hated being alone.

He was now standing in a forest. It wasn't the Darkling Woods or the Forest of Asiter. It was like no wood he had ever set foot in and he would probably never get the opportunity to be in a place like this ever again. It was magical. And not just magical because it was breathtakingly beautiful – which it was, oh, it most certainly was – not because of the way that the trees reached higher than any he had ever stood amongst, reaching above the clouds so their tips were not even visible, or because the grass beneath his feet smelled of rich soil and growth and the air was the cleanest, most fragrant his lungs had ever breathed. The place was seriously, honest-to-goodness, magical.

Merlin could feel it all around him, seeping into his body from the air, the carpet of sweet smelling grass under his bare feet (he still wasn't sure why the bandits had felt a need to steal his shoes when they had left him to die, but now with the silky grass caressing the soles of his feet he found he didn't mind so much anymore). It wasn't a tingle that alerted him to magic nearby or even a heart stopping jolt that warned him that a powerful artifact was in the vicinity. It was all around him; the air was positively humming with power, the same power, he realized, as that he had sensed in the dryad's charm except this was much, much more powerful. It was raw, real, and thrumming with life, with death, with chance, with fate, with laughter, with tears, with everything that made up life.

And it was quiet. Oh-so-quiet. He had never encountered a place with such a distinct lack of sound. Birds did not call out to each other from the unseen branches of the giant trees. There were no sounds of squirrels chattering or scurrying and not even the miniscule whisper of a butterfly's wing touching the air reached Merlin's ears. It was so quiet, so peaceful. So still. Nothing moved. Perhaps if he watched, listened, long enough he could hear the grass grow. See it reach toward the cloud-obscured heavens.

That would be lovely, wouldn't it? He let a lazy smile tug at his lips as he glanced around him, taking in the life and beauty around him. He could stay here forever. In fact, he couldn't think of a reason why he shouldn't.

After all, the pain was gone.

It wasn't until after he thought it that he realized that it was true. The pain that had been throbbing through his broken rib, stretched shoulders, bloody wrists, and twisted ankle had melted away with the darkness. He absently pulled his shirt up, mildly curious as to whether he had been healed or not.

He hadn't.

A deep purple and blackening bruise, swollen and excruciatingly painful to behold, colored his torso. He pressed against the part of his chest that was the most tender looking and felt the broken rib give a little. No, he was still injured. And that – what he just did, pressing the wound – should have probably hurt a lot more than it had. It hadn't hurt at all. Merlin felt almost giddy. He could stay here forever! It was so peaceful, so painless…

His eyes roved around and he noticed a glassy pool of water between two of the largest trees in this virgin forest. The water was black, not exactly sinister, but not necessarily inviting, either. He knew what the water was. It was magical – if he stepped into the pool, he'd be taken away from here. Away from this paradise.

But he didn't want to leave.

Did he?

He thought hard for a moment, which was a feat within itself considering how the magic of this dreamscape seemed to numb his mind, make him feel like he was floating on air. Did he really want to stay here? Was there perhaps something that he would miss if he decided to stay here forever?

Idiot.

The voice leaked into his mind unbidden and he nearly jumped as it echoed around in there. Recognition flooded through him as his subconscious struggled to remind him of something that his half-sedated mind had already seemed to have forgotten. Arthur. The prat. His destiny. His friend.

Other images creeped into the open. An old man in robes, mixing potions, looking at Merlin from beneath an incredibly arched eyebrow. A beautiful woman with skin the color of coffee and eyes that always showed compassion, a heart of gold. Another woman, equally as beautiful, olive eyes, red lips, cream skin, black hair cascading in ribbons of silk down her back…

His friends.

He couldn't leave them. He had to press forward, keep moving on. He couldn't stay here, no matter how blissful the idea might sound. No matter how much he wanted to, more than anything. He had a purpose for being here, didn't he? He had to lift the curse. Prove his worth. Get back to Arthur and continue to save his royal behind until kingdom come – literally, as he was awaiting the time of the Once and Future King and the kingdom of Albion to come.

The reminders of what was at stake jarred him into some form of reality, just barely, but enough to get him moving again. He knew that he couldn't stay. His mind drifted to his injuries. Just because he couldn't feel them didn't mean they weren't there. If he couldn't feel pain, then it was fully possible that he could get worse and worse, or hurt himself even more and not even know it because there would be no pain, no indication of his afflictions. He could die here and not even know it.

He stumbled forward, surging toward the pool, heart pounding with adrenaline as he realized what he was about to do. He was going to jump into an unknown magical portal, fling himself across time and space to who knows where. He was going to leave this paradise and throw himself into reality. The pain would come again. Hurt and sorrow would be back. He would be afraid. He would cry, laugh, and feel. Feel things that he didn't want to feel anymore. That he wouldn't have to feel here.

On second thought, maybe he should stay here.

No. Merlin, you idiot, stop being so selfish! You are not going to cower from reality in this mystical forest – you're more stubborn than that, idiot. Now get moving.

Merlin's subconscious, which seemed to have adopted his master's prattish yet affectionate mannerisms and voice, spurred him into motion again. His "inner Arthur" was right. He had to break away from the enchantment that was ensnaring his mind. He wasn't going to give up. He was going to press forward.

That's it, idiot, don't be such a girl's petticoat.

"Prat," Merlin felt himself whisper to the prince that wasn't there. Then, before he lost his nerve, he flung himself forward, headfirst, into the inky black waters of uncertainty.

There was no going back now.

A/N: Okay, extra-awesome points (and maybe even your own personal "inner Arthur" LOL!) to whoever can tell me where I got my inspiration for the woods Merlin was in from. :)

What did you guys think? I'm exceptionally happy with this, much happier than I thought I would be, in fact. Which is a good thing, I suppose, but I really hope you guys are still enjoying this as much as I am. It's about to get even more exciting as we move forward… :) But I'm not going to give anything away. Please review and I'll update Wednesday! :D

~Emachinescat ^..^